Okay, set at the end of episode ten, where Stella rocks up at Shannons with a bottle of vodka. I have to say, so many ideas jumped into my head, and none of them were PG13, or hell even G rated, which I'm sure would entertain most of you. LOL. Deals with most of the issues confronted with this season, NOT FEMSLASH. There is no pairing, unless you count friendship so yeah. I needed to write a oneshot at least inspire me to keep going with THL, or to inspire the rest of you to keep going! This fandom is dying yo!
Anyways, here you go!
They spent most of the night in almost complete silence in emptiness of Shannon's riverside apartment, the sound of their words replaced by the echoing noises of shot glasses hitting the metallic top of the coffee table and the continuous stream of alcohol flowing from their respective bottles. The pizza that had been ordered earlier in the evening, sat ignored on the kitchen bench going cold, one slice missing after a certain brunette had arrived.
At first the silence was comforting, easy to tolerate, not pushing either woman to talk about any of the problems that seemed to have taken over their lives in the last few months. They could just wallow in their pity alone, having a muted conversation all the while sharing similar expressions of grim smiles.
It wasn't until the deafening sound of only glass's clinking became too much for them to bear, beginning with simple comments badmouthing the men in their lives; Charlie for firing Michael; Michael for dying; Josh for always needing to be a hero; Lawson for fucking it all up. Stella had to do a quick triple take in her upset and inebriated state which only left her dizzier than before, unsure if she had imagined the name that had fallen from Shannon's lips or not.
"It wasn't just a mugging then, was it?"
The emotional strain became too much for Shannon to bear, everything coming to the surface at once, tears and shaking taking over her body. She had been quiet for too long, faced her attacker who'd claimed she wanted it and that he would fight any accusation aimed in his direction, and her boyfriend had done nothing but become overly distanced despite the fact that that had been requested of him.
The only thing Stella was able to do was to sit there on the floor in front of the couch, her hand over her mouth in shock, taking in the news as it came from the other woman as her inability to stop spilling her secrets was gone, like she had thrown up all of the contents in her stomach and all that was left was acidic bile. She wanted to console her, to try and understand what the hell had happened, but she was clueless.
Her hand reached for Shannon's hesitantly, not wanting to push her further into the darkness by freaking her out, and was met with an equally fierce grip. As Stella's heart began to break at the sight of Shannon melting under the pressure and fear, the older woman collapsed into her arms, sobs racking her body with an unrelenting fervour.
A gentle kiss was pressed to Shannon's temple, "you'll be okay."
The words were barely loud enough to be heard over the cries and shaking of Shannon's body, but as they were repeated, growing stronger with each repetition, Shannon actually began to believe it.
Hmmmm? What was that?
